Looking Beyond the Price Tag

Many times when buying a baler, the customer focus is on the purchase price of the baler. Experience clearly shows us that purchase price is only part of the picture to baler economics — the cost of owning and operating the baler over its life has a far greater impact to the bottom line.

For instance, the purchase cost of a baler may amount to only a couple of dollars per ton of product produced. On the other hand, shipping costs can be as much as $20 per ton. With that in mind, it makes sense to buy a baler that can help you reduce transporting your product to market.

Density is probably the single most important element in achieving good freight and storage economics. Keep in mind that a 2 lb per cubic-foot increase in density can mean as much as an 8,000 lb increase in payload in a 50 foot railway car. That 8,000 lbs — or 4 tons of material — is basically going to ship at no additional charge, thereby saving you as much as $80 per car. If you ship a carload a day, the difference could be $20,000 a year in savings.

There have been many cases where shipping was reduced $10,000 a month by paying attention to the density and the load patterns in shipping conveyances.

In many instances the cost of wire over the life of the baler can be significant. In high production settings, the savings in wire cost from one baler to another can be more than the cost of the baler.

The size of the bale, the length of the knot, and the bale density all have an impact on the amount of wire used. Most balers have a pigtail (knot) that can amount to 8% of total wire consumption. In a high-volume operation, that can be thousands of dollars a year in savings just by eliminating — or minimizing — wire used for the pigtail.

As you now focus on these "life cycle" cost issues associated with baler operation, don't overlook the practical life span of the baler. A baler's best economic value is during the first five years of its life. After that, the value tends to deteriorate. In some high usage operations, it may be better to trade the machine in for a newer model and take advantage of updated components that offer improved performance, safety and operating efficiencies.

(American Baler Company's baling machines are built extremely tough and positioned for 20 years or more of meaningful service life. Still, we advocate using a 10-year life cycle cost analysis which more typically reflects the industry norm. American Baler dealers, thoroughly trained in the economics of baling, can help address all your "cost" issues.